how do i erase my hard drive i want to sell it dont want my info out there, it has some thing to do with?

Question

delete tree? windows me

Answer 1

find out what type of hard drive it is
then go to the manufactures website and download a disk utility to zero fill the drive this will put the drive to the way it was when you first bought it


format c: wont totally erase the drive you'll have to do a zero fill

Answer 2

Two ways...

Make a bootable floppy with FDISK on it. You can do that by right-clicking on your floppy drive in "My Computer" and choosing format and then checking off to make it bootable. Then you just need to find FDISK and copy that to the floppy. Once booted to the floppy run FDISK and delete all partitions.

or

Boot from a Windows CD and start the Windows install. You will come to a part where you can delete or create partitions. Use that area to delete all partitons and then just reboot without finishing the install. Or you could format the HDD and reinstall windows which would also over write everything.

Windows 98 CDs are bootable as well. with those you don;t have to start the install of windows. Just boot off the CD and then run FDISK which is right on the CD. I think in the \Windows directory.

Or drill a hole through your hard drive or hold a huge magnet to it!

Keep in mind that if you simply delete the partitions there are ways to get the data back but only those in the know would know how and quite honestly most people that would know how wouldn't care to go through the work to do it. If you want it to be cleaner you'd have to also create a new partiton and then format it. Or from your system BIOS you could low level format it - but that takes a long time and I wouldn't bother.

Answer 3

Due to privacy and security concerns, most people wish to delete all files from their computer. Usually this is simple, but at times you can face problems. If you selling your hard disk, you may wish to delete all files . Since most users use their computer while they are logged in as administrator, they should be able to delete any file on their hard drive. More information at http://fixit.in/deletefiles.html

Answer 4

Well if you have windows ME you can do this.

First create a boot disk in control panel, be sure Fdisk.exe is on the disc before formatting.

Restart your computer with the Floppy on the floppy unit.

Run:

format c: /q

then run fdisk.exe, follow the instructions to erase the partition

after that run fdisk /mbr

and that should do it

Regards

Answer 5

Yes
you will need to set the dip settings to 3 5 and 8 in the on position..power off your pc and format your hard drive.

Answer 6

If you want to wipe hard drive completely clean, you have to low level format it. You can go to the manufactor website for your hard drive, and find the program you need to low level format. Normal formatting will not wipe it completely clean.

Answer 7

Download and copy to some form of media (thumb drive, CD, or floppy) KILLDISK. It writes the binary to all zeros, so hard drive cannot contain data.
You can download here:
http://www.ntfs.com/google-adv.htm?gclid=CMCbuIK3-IkCFQLYYgodJx1hWA
It works well, I use it often on customer's computers.

Answer 8

If you still have the system discs or CD's that you originally loaded on your system, just load them again. They will wipe every old thing out.

Answer 9

Just re-format it a couple of times. That should do it.

Answer 10

if it is still hooked up to your computer format it the way you would a flopy disk

select the disk right click and choose format